The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for promoting compliance by audience members with broadcast exposure monitoring procedures.
Various systems exist for monitoring the exposure of an audience member to media broadcasts, such as radio and television. As used herein, the terms "broadcast" and "broadcasts" include, without limitation, real-time broadcasts (whether over-the-air, via cable, satellite, fiber optic or other transmission medium), playback of recordings of broadcast segments, pre-recorded programming and other forms of widely disseminated information.
Conventional methods require that the audience member provide an indication of the broadcasts to which she or he has been exposed. Such methods typically involve conversations with media exposure survey personnel, the use of paper diaries or push-button devices. For example, in one proposed technique, a portable audience response system provides a handheld unit having push-buttons to each audience member, and a central processor polls the units wirelessly to collect the audience responses.
These conventional methods rely on the audience member's awareness that he or she is being exposed to a broadcast, remembering to record such exposure, and actually recording the same. In view of the burden placed on the audience member, these methods are generally less preferable than automatic methods.
A system for passively logging the presence and identity of television viewers has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,626,904 (Lurie) in which each viewer wears headphones to receive the audio portion of a program. The headphones include a heat or pressure sensor for detecting the placement of the headphones on the viewer's head. The headphones wirelessly transmit an identification based on the sensor's output to a monitor, and wirelessly receive the audio portion of the program. The monitor stores the identification with a timestamp. However, audience members may not wish to wear headphones, and the system is implemented for a particular home television set, rather than the various broadcast sources to which an audience member is actually exposed.
When monitoring reception of broadcasts by audience members, use of a portable device carried with the person is preferred, as such a device can detect exposure at locations both inside and outside the home of the audience member. A problem with proposed devices of this type is that the audience member is unaware whether or not the monitor is functioning properly. The audience member may also be unaware of a failure to use or maintain the device properly.
Use of a portable broadcast exposure monitoring device presents a challenge to an entity conducting a media exposure survey of motivating the audience member to carry the monitoring device with her or his person. In many applications, moreover, it is necessary for the audience member to return the monitoring device to a docking unit periodically, for example, nightly, to recharge batteries and dump data.